“Are you ready? We should get going if we want to see Yewon before the concert.” Kyungwon said, adjusting her bag on her shoulder. It was a hot day and she was wearing comfortable clothes, grateful that the concert was in an open space and she didn’t need to dress up for it. Usually she would be the one to be late, no the other way around.

But things weren’t working like they used to anymore.

Minkyung was so tense lately, distracted for no reason and getting flustered when she would realize it. She was acting like she was hiding something.

Kim had left the room to fix her makeup and change the bandage on her hand, but it was taking too long and Kyungwon couldn’t help but feel a bit worried about it.

Kang wasn’t an intrusive person, at least she liked to think she wasn’t. Yes, she could be a little on the jealous side, but it wasn’t like her to pry onto her girlfriend’s business. Yet, she wasn’t blind.

In the morning after Minky got home with that weird bandage, Kyungwon had woken up earlier than the girl to call Kim’s work and inform she wouldn’t be coming. After it she decided to try to make some breakfast for the two of them instead of going back to bed. She wanted to give them a relaxing and fun day for once. But first she needed to wash off and try to shake off her sleepiness, so she had headed to the bathroom and that was when she noticed something off.

Minky had bought a bunch of extra bandages and stocked it up in the cabinet, what made Kyungwon wonder how bad her wound really was. One of the packages on the floor near the trash can, Minkyung might have dropped it when she was changing her bandages. Kyungwon had grabbed the paper and opened the trash can’s lid to throw it away properly, but she stopped mid motion. Kang had thrown out all the trash yesterday and the can was almost empty except for the bandages and the adhesive tape on it, all these things were white. Pure white, as if it had never been used. The girl furrowed her eyebrows, puzzled by the fact that there wasn’t a single blood stain on the bandages. If Minky had injured herself, shouldn’t there be blood? She had spent hours with it, how come there wasn’t even a drop of blood on it? It didn’t make any sense, and it only got worse when Kyungwon remembered the fact that the girl had refused to let her see the wound.

Kang didn’t want to question her girlfriend’s word, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something really wrong and Minkyung was trying her best to hide it.

So she did what she could to keep the other girl happy, hoping it would make her comfortable enough to accept her help and open up about whatever was going on.

It didn’t work.

The days passed and the questions on her mind were still unanswered, giving place to new ones that she wasn’t sure she wanted to hear the answers for.

Minkyung was clinging onto her more than usual, creating excuses to just spend time together and avoiding any of their usual family meetings. The taller woman was even slacking off on work, and this was such not a Kim Minkyung thing do to that it was almost scary. Kyungwon couldn’t say she disliked it, she was the happiest when Minky was around.

She took Minkyung to her favorite places and they discovered a few new ones too. They kissed and hugged more often, every touch charged with more than love, but also certain need that she never felt before. They didn’t talk though, not for real. They kept the conversation light and easy, and even if sometimes brown haired girl felt the urge of questioning her girlfriend tired of staying in the dark, but it would take a look into Minkyung’s fragile eyes to make her change her mind.

Instead, Kyungwon started to buy extra bandages for her fake wounds, and hot chocolate for herself to keep away the coldness of mistrust.

It’s been a week and Minkyung still kept the bandage tied around her perfectly fine hand. One week and the woman hadn’t said a thing about it. Kyungwon’s worries were slowly turning into suspicions and now she had a rather bittersweet theory of her own.

Kyungwon never thought of herself as specially gifted when it comes down to brains, but it was the first time that she wished she wasn’t clever indeed, because like this her dumb theory would remain as only it and they would be okay.

But the girl knew deep inside that she was anything but dumb when it comes down to Minkyung.

Minkyung closed her left hand tight, her free hand touching the promise ring that she still kept on her finger. It was a simple silver ring, after all they weren’t more than broken college students when Kyungwon had got them a set. However, the slightly shorter girl had design the charming flower pattern that they had engraved onto it later, making the ring a very personal and special thing for Minkyung. They hadn’t talk about it yet, but she knew Kyungwon was planning on making things official soon enough and replace that ring with another one that she was keeping not so secretly in her studio for months.

Minky was feeling terrible for wearing the ring in the same hand she had someone else’s soul mark, she couldn’t even imagine on putting on a wedding ring right now. No matter how little control she had over fate, she still felt responsible for betraying her girlfriend's trust and their promises.

Kang’s voice sounded from the outside of the bathroom door and the brunette took a deep breathe.

“I’m almost ready, just give me a minute.” She asked, finally finishing wrapping the bandages back around her hand.

It’s been a week, a whole damn week, and yet she still couldn’t bring herself to confess everything to Kyungwon. She was a coward. Every day she would pray that the mark had disappeared. Every morning she would feel fear and hope crawling through her body as she took away the white fabric that she used to cover the tattoo. But every time the fear would win as she would face once more the red mark with Yaebin’s name on it, making it clear that no matter what she did it would never go away.

She tried all that she could to erase it. She would use every chance to research about it, to try and use every crazy suggestion to make it go away. Yet, the only thing it did was hurt her soft skin and break her spirit with every failed attempt. Kim was barely paying attention to her work anymore, so focused on the mark that cursed her perfectly constructed life and left her on her own to fix it. Every day she would fear being caught, but she couldn’t bring herself to stay away of Kyungwon, instead she would just clung onto her even more, afraid of losing the person she always considered as the love of her life.

Her hands were shaking as she tried to compose herself. It was becoming harder and harder to keep the truth to herself, but she knew that telling Kyungwon about it would change their relationship for good, and even if it was selfish of her, she wanted to enjoy their life together as it had always been, only for a little longer.

She had managed to make them skip her family dinner last week, just like Yewon’s concert – For what she was feeling terrible about – with the excuse that she wasn’t feeling well and her girlfriend was kind enough to believe in her blatant lies. Minkyung didn’t want to face anymore suspicious looks and well intentioned questions, she didn’t want to lie to more people that she loved.

However, she couldn’t avoid it now. Yewon called her and pretty much demanded her (in her best aegyo voice) presence in the event today. Her parents would be there as well, she couldn’t simply ditch them again.

“Just one last time.” She promised herself, aware of the fact that she was running out of time. She would enjoy the evening the best way she could and after…Well, she didn’t wanted to think about it now.

Minky forced a smile, nodding to her own reflection in the mirror before leaving the bathroom to meet Kyungwon’s grin.

“It was about time! Let’s go, Yewon will pout throughout the whole performance if we don’t arrive in time.”

Kyungwon grabbed her by the hand, determined to lead her toward the exit before she could try and escape again with a new excuse.

Minkyung left out a small laugh that still lacked the sincerity it used to have, still she hold onto Kyungwon’s arm, matching her long strides.

“Yes, let’s make sure Yewon keeps her smile on.” She hoped she could do the same for Kyungwon and herself, too.

The concert was been held in an open theater, an old and beautiful structure made out of stone and marble that was big enough to contain even a large ensemble of musicians like Yewon’s team. The bleachers weren’t fully filled just yet, but soon the crowd would be too dense to walk through it. Usually the events hold there attracted families and couples, people who could enjoy a relaxing evening with their loved ones, delighting themselves with the soulful melodies that the orchestra would produce.

Even before she joined the team as a musician, Yewon would drag Minkyung out to watch it, and now seeing her about to perform brought the older girl a feeling of nostalgia and she felt proud about her bright little sister who was pursuing her dreams.  She smiled broadly and waved when she spotted the girl that was rehearsing one last time with the other members of the violin section.

“Yewonie!” Kyungwon also waved energetically, approaching the stage and waiting for the girl to come down. 

The younger Kim finally took notice of their presence and came to their encounter with fast steps and a smile so big that made her gentle brown eyes disappear into crescents. Minkyung smile mirrored the one on her sister’s face, her eye smile matching the girl’s, and quickened her steps to meet the duo that was already talking.

She gave the girl a tight hug, pulling away just to give her a better look. “You look gorgeous! I’m sorry I couldn’t make it last time, I’ll be extra cheerful today to compensate. Even brought my own human megaphone for it!” She said, jokingly elbowing Kyungwon that only laughed in answer.

“It’s okay. I have a…Unnie! What happened?” Yewon’s eyes were fully open now, observing Minky’s hand with concern.

There was a moment of tension as Minkyung prepared herself to lie, again. However, it wasn’t needed as the Kang interrupted the quietness, shouting at a cute brunette that was making her way to them.

“Another Yewonie!” She called, getting a playful eye roll in answer before Arin smiled at them, standing beside Yewon and linking their arms. Choi Yewon, better known as Arin between her friends, was Yewon’s soulmate. The girls were such a perfect match that they even shared the same name and the love for music, Yewon playing the violin and Arin the transverse flute. Their story was a good example of how things were supposed to be. They met in high school, and soon enough found out they were meant to be, it didn’t take more than a couple of weeks for them to become incredibly fond of each other.  

Minkyung was glad her sister fate was less troubled than her own.

Arin was part of the family now, making Minkyung feel like she had another baby sister. Kyungwon felt something similar, considering how much she would banter with the young ones and how they would always end up laughing about her antics.

They exchanged warm greetings and hugs.

“Yewon is doing a solo today. It is so good, make sure to not fall sleep before this part!” Arin informed, making the young Kim blush slightly.

“It’s only a short one! But I practice, so I hope it will work out.” Yewon, the Kim one, said still blushing and scratching the back of her head in a nervous gesture. Yewon was only two years younger than Minky, but she still looked like her little shy and insecure sister in moments like this.

“She is being humble. It sounds amazing, really.” Arin added, hugging the girl by the shoulders with a proud smile.

“I know you probably didn’t sleep working on it, why are you downplaying it now?” Minkyung reached out to ruffle her sister’s hair, making sure to fix it afterwards. “You will do great. I will get mom and dad a nice place with us and we will be watching and cheering for you.”

“Don’t worry, Yewon. We didn’t bring any tomatoes today, you know I’m allergic to it anyway.” Kyungwon joked, before giving her a reassuring smile. “You guys always do amazing. I’ll make sure to pay a lot of attention so I can sketch it later.”

A staff member interrupted them, urging the younger girls to hurry up because it was time to standby. They bid the couple goodbye and wished them luck, before heading to the best place they could find on the bleachers.

Kyungwon was having a pleasant evening, a peaceful smile on her face as she cuddled Minkyung and listened to the sweet melody Yewon’s violin was producing.

Minkyung and Yewon’s parents had come a bit late, making it impossible to sit together due to the crowd that was filling the bleachers almost entirely, but they had exchanged greetings briefly before the concert and would probably grab dinner together later. Kyungwon was rather fond of the Kim’s and she missed spending time with them as well, therefore to see all family – the family that she felt like it was hers too – was always good.

Yewon’s solo was over and the ensemble started to play in a much quicker pace, spreading a wave of excitement through the crowd, Kyungwon included. She hugged her girlfriend tighter, kissing the side of her head. “You saw that? Our Yewon is no joke!”  For what she received a vigorous nod and a smile as reply, the most sincere one she had seen in quite a while.

Kang was considering deeming that night as a great one until she felt Minkyung tense up beside her, her gaze fixed in something in the bottom of the bleachers. She quickly turned away, hiding her face into the crook of her neck as if she was afraid of being spotter.

The brown haired girl frowned, confused with the sudden change in Kim’s attitude. Her gaze followed the direction Minkyung had been looking at, noticing two girls that were awkwardly trying to go through the crowd and reach a free spot. She couldn’t see their faces properly, but the blond hair one of them had was pretty easy to spot, the petite girl that accompanied her had dark brown hair and light skin. Both girls were, apparently, unaware of their presence.

She could feel all the doubts starting to fill in her mind again. She pressed her lips in a tight line, lowering her gaze to the top of Minky’s head that was all that she could see now. “Minkyung?” She asked quietly, her attention now completed focuses on her girlfriend that was clinging onto her jacket as if she was scared she would just stand up and run away.

The girl raised her head, giving her a conflicted look.

“Minkyung, is something wrong?”

Minkyung didn’t answer her, instead she felt soft lips crushing against hers as the girl hugged her tight.

The kiss wasn’t gentle and sweet as usual. Her touch was rough grabbing Kang’s coat like her life depended on it. Her lips were harsh, demanding, filled with raw emotion as if she was trying to dive right into Kyungwon.

The younger woman was a bit shocked with the sudden attack, and took her a moment to realize what was happening and pull away. Minky tried to pull her back in, her eyes bright with affliction. But Kyungwon just shook her head negatively, cupping her face between her hands.

“Minky, your parents are looking.” It wasn’t the real reason why she stopped her and both girl knew it, albeit Kyungwon’s gentle and warm tone was enough to give the other woman some comfort.

“It’s fine. I’m not going anywhere, so don’t rush.” She kissed her chastely, proceeding to hug her and pat her back carefully.

Her hazelnut eyes wandered through the crowd, easily spotting the duo again. There was no doubt of what was going on anymore. Unfortunately Kyungwon wasn't as dumb as she wished.

She kissed Minkyung’s forehead, giving her a small smile that wasn’t able to hide her true emotions.

The concert was going to end soon and Kyungwon decided they should take an early leave.

Early she had panicked, overwhelmed by the fear. Yaebin was in the crowd with someone she didn’t know, and even though the girl probably had no idea she was there, Minkyung felt her blood running cold, opposite of her mark that emitted a warm sensatation now. She didn’t wanted to face the girl and everything she represented, more so she didn’t want Kyungwon to notice it.

Kim did what she had been doing ever since she received the marked, tried to hold on to Kyungwon and their feelings as much as she could. Minkyung always felt that if she was stubborn enough, brave and loyal enough to her feelings, it would protected her against the power of fate and she would be able to stay with Kyungwon.

But of course her girlfriend noticed how shaken she was, how unstable and desperate she looked. Kyungwon didn’t utter a single question, however her pretty brown eyes were filled with concern and sadness as she tried her best to comfort the girl.

In that moment Minkyung knew her time was over and there was no escape of the truth now.

As soon as the concert was over and before the crowd stopped clapping, they dashed out of the place. Minkyung saw her parents’ inquiring looks and she knew Yewon and Arin would have the same expression as soon as they noticed their absence, but she didn’t turn around to face them or, neither did Kyungwon.

Minkyung hold onto Kyungwon’s hand as they walked, trying to push the negative thoughts to the back of her mind. Yet, she couldn’t avoid shaking as the cold wind hit them. They didn’t say a word all the way, as if saying anything would throw them put of the edge and there was no turning back.

The park was beautiful that night. There was barely any people there now, everyone still in the amphitheater. The blue sky free of clouds illuminating their path, the cherry blossoms staining the green grass pink. The flowers falling over them as they walked and giving it a romantic atmosphere. It didn’t match their current feelings.

They walked to a quieter part of the park, reaching the steps that would lead to the river below. The water was dark and even without touching it, Kyungwon knew it would be as cold as she felt inside now.

There was tension in the air as they just stood there looking at anything other than each other. The prolonged silence was filled with their worries and fears, too thick to be cut easily now. So they just stand there for a while, both building up the courage it would take to proceed.

Kyungwon knew that she had to do it as fast as possible, so she tried her best to face her girlfriend. “You got your mark, didn’t you?”

“W-What?” Minkyung’s beautiful eyes were wide now, full of shock and guilt. This solely would be enough for the Kang to know her suspicion was right.

Kyungwon felt something break inside of her. She knew that moment would change everything about them and she couldn’t do anything about it.

Kang forced a smile. It would be easy to simply say it was a joke and keep on pretending she didn’t notice it, the idea was far more pleasant than to confront Minky about it.  They couldn’t live a lie forever.

“Your hand. I know you are not hurt for real. You didn’t bleed, you don’t show any signs of pain or hesitate to use it…You are very sensitive to pain, wouldn’t be able to hide it so well.” Kyungwon said, pointing out Minkyung’s left hand with a nod. Her voice higher than normal, strained due to the feelings that were suffocating her. “Every day you seem more and more nervous and odd. And earlier you were just so obvious…Minkyung, you were never a good liar.”

She reached out to touch her hand. “Let me see it.”

Kim grabbed her hand, refraining the shorter girl of undoing the bandage. She had that look in her eyes again, the one begging her to no ask anything, to forget about it and just hold her tight.

“I love you. I never loved anyone else.” It was more of a plead than a confession, her voice full of despair.

Kyungwon gave her a weak smile in response. It was hard to ignore her requesting since her heart was demanding the same thing, but delay it would only makes things more painful and she didn’t think she would be able to handle anymore pain.

“I know. That’s why I don’t you to feel like you need to hide anything from me.”

They exchanged a long, sorrowful look, before Minkyung finally let go of her girlfriend’s hand, allowing her to unwrap the soft fabric, revealing her intact pale skin beneath it. Kang held her hand between hers, slowly flipping it to expose her palm.

A deep, heavy, sigh was heard.

The brunette averted her gaze, biting down on her bottom lip to contain the sudden need of apologizing.

“You got the ‘Kang’ part right, at least.” Kyungwon’s tone was lacking sincerity, just a bad imitation of her usually playful one, unable to conceal her real feelings. Minkyung couldn’t blame her for it, she was fully aware that the girl was trying her best to deal with it and unfortunately it was only the beginning of their torment.

Minky hugged her tight, so tight that she could barely breathe properly, but still she didn’t utter a word. Kim would apologize over and over, as if it was her fault, what they both knew wasn’t the case. Kyungwon should’ve told her that, but right now she couldn’t.

Kang Kyungwon was not one to stay quiet. Even when she was feeling shy and embarrassed, she still tended to talk too much out of nervousness. Although as the moments went by, she couldn’t force herself to say anything else.

Since the beginning of their relationship she was aware that there was a chance that their soulmates were still out there, just waiting for a trick of the destiny to appear. Yet, after so many years, the idea of it actually happening became faint in her mind, like a bad nightmare that she would eventually forget about. Only that now this wasn’t only a bad possibility in the back of her mind, it was very much real and no matter how hard she tried, she wouldn’t be able to ignore it.

The mark on Minky’s hand was more than just a tattoo, it was the symbol of their downfall.

Now Minkyung had someone waiting for her, someone who would always be connected to her, someone for whom she was destined to fall for, and perhaps this person already had fallen for her as well. The one person that could provide her a special kind of happiness and love that Kyungwon would never be able to.

This person who shared the same surname as her, had already met Minkyung and affected their lives. Whoever she was, she had already changed Minkyung.

The shorter girl backed away, breaking the hug to walk a couple of steps until she could reach the lower steps, where she sat.

The brown haired girl looked down at her own hand, the soft skin clean of any marks just like it had always been. Maybe she also had a soulmate somewhere in the world, and before she could do anything a mark would appear and she won’t ever be able to get rid of it. However, Kyungwon didn’t feel like it would ever happen. She never felt like she was connected to someone, and now she didn’t want to be either.

Mastering her courage, she glanced at her girlfriend. Her heart was aching, slowly breaking into pieces and she knew it would only get worse once she asked, still, she couldn’t bear to not know.  “How does it feel?” What she really meant was ‘How you feel about her?’, but she wasn’t brave enough to be so straight forward.

Minkyung was expecting that kind of question, actually she expected many more and a stronger reaction as well. However, she still didn’t know how to answer it properly – as if there was even a proper way of answering it.

She hesitated, dry, making it hard to form the words. “It feels…Feels great and terrible at the same time. It’s like this blissfulness could fill you up, until you start to choke on it and you can’t breathe anymore.” She didn’t mention that she felt like it due to the weight of the guilty that was suffocating  her, although Kyungwon probably knew it.

In an impulse she reached out to grab Kyungwon’s hands in a tight grip. “I still feel the same about us. Nothing changed, I swear!”

Somehow it didn’t sound as sincere as she wished, it sounded more like she was trying to convince herself instead of the other woman. She still loved Kyungwon, there was no doubt. But in the spam of a single week she had already doubted herself so much, she was becoming paranoid about everything she did or said, as if she had to double check her feelings constantly. One morning she got mad at Kyungwon for making a mess at the studio and was about to snap at her, just to stop and run out of the room to cry in the bathroom. Suddenly she couldn’t tell if she was legit annoyed at her girlfriend for the silly studio incident or if it was the mark that was affecting her and making her subconsciously reject the girl, to make her antagonized her girlfriend instead of love her – the simple thought of it was horrible.

The brown haired girl just nodded with a shaky smile that was nowhere near as bright as her usual grin. She was trying so hard to shake off the sensation of loss, and believe what Minky was saying, but it wasn’t easy. Perhaps impossible to do so. Even without facing the girl properly, she knew by the sound of her voice that it wasn’t completely true.

No matter how much they loved each other or how happy they were together, they couldn’t ignore that small mark on Minkyung’s palm. Something so small, but still so powerful. Powerful enough to ruin their chances of a future together. As far as she knew, there was no way of ignoring your soulmate connection, you could try, but eventually you would give in to it and accept your fate. After all, who could turn their back on the one chance of being perfectly happy? There wasn’t even one case where it happened.

Kyungwon always thought they were as good as any other couple, that there wasn’t anything they lacked compared to anyone, soulmates or not. However, she couldn’t really know if it was true any longer. Could she really be as good to Minkyung as her soulmate? Or she was just a distraction in the way of her real happiness?

Minkyung hugged her once more and this time she hugged her back even tighter. She could feel the tears burning in her eyes, but she didn’t allow herself to cry. Kyungwon could recall clearly Minky’s painful sobs that she heard through the phone in that dreadful night, now she knew the real reason for her pain and to know that only made things worse. She had to be strong for them now, or else there wouldn’t be any hope for them.

With a deep breath, she rested her head against the taller girl’s shoulder, feeling Kim’s scent filling her lungs as the girl caressed her hair trying to give her some comfort. The contact was nice and good for both girls. But it wasn’t enough to keep the pain away for good.

Kyungwon looked over Minkyung’s shoulder, her gaze touching the dark gray of the river below them, noticing the small glimpses of light pink on the surface. Cherry blossoms flowers. It was spring, now she recalled Minkyung telling her about it.

She was starting to hate this season.

“Let’s go home.”

A/N: I apologize for any mistakes, but at least it came out pretty fast (for my slow standards). If the last chapter was all about Yaebin, this one was all about 2kyung. From now on things will start to get complicated, but I hope I won’t mess it up…I hope.

If any of you happen to read my other ongoing story you might have thought that Yewon’s match would be Siyeon, but well, let’s just say Siyeon will have an important role here as well.

Thanks to everyone who reads, subscribes and comments, it means a lot. Next update will take a while, since WD is next on my list and I have a Bonlu oneshot to finish as well.